Diehard GameFAN

Author: Mark B.

  • Review: The Experiment (PC)

    The Experiment Genre: Adventure Developer: Lexis Numerique Publisher: The Adventure Company Release Date: 02/05/08 Gaming has a habit of recycling game ideas, whether they be successful or otherwise, in hopes that money can be made with some changes. You’ve seen it a billion times and will see it a billion more; Alone in the Dark…

  • Review: Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore (Microsoft Xbox 360)

    Karaoke Revolution: American Idol Encore Genre: Singing/Rhythm game Developer: Blitz Games Publisher: Konami Release Date: 02/05/2008 Y’know, out of all the people who could have produced a game like Rock Band, I always kind of figured Konami would have done it first. I mean, while in America they don’t exactly have a ton of peripheral-based…

  • Review: Culdcept Saga (Microsoft Xbox 360)

    Culdcept Saga Genre: Board/Card RPG Developer: Omiya Soft/Jamsworks Publisher: Namco Bandai Games Release Date: 02/05/2008 The original Culdcept was one of those “niche” titles that has a loyal (but small) fan following, though most gamers have no idea what the holy hell it even is. One part Monopoly and one part Magic: The Gathering, Culdcept…

  • Playing the Lame presents: “The Only Thing Worse Than a Fanboy is a Paid Shill”.

    PRESENTS: “The only thing worse than a fanboy is a paid shill.” AKA “This is why we can’t have nice things.” You know, as much as we here at DGHF use the term in a disparaging fashion, there’s a certain amount of appreciation one has to have for a fanboy or girl. I mean, let’s…

  • Review: Miami Nights: Singles in the City (Nintendo DS)

    Miami Nights: Singles in the City Genre: Life simulation Developer: Gameloft Publisher: Ubisoft Release Date: 1/15/2008 Eight years ago, the original “The Sims” game debuted on the PC, featuring a very in-depth look at the idea of managing the life of a little imaginary version of yourself (or whoever). It was a simple game with…

  • Review: Devil May Cry 4 (Microsoft Xbox 360)

    Devil May Cry 4 Genre: Action Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Release Date: 02/05/2008 So, Devil May Cry 4. It’s not easy to know what to say about this one. The first game was and still is awesome, balls-to-the-wall ass-kicking of the highest order, and the third game was a challenge and a half… but the…

  • Review: Furu Furu Park (Nintendo Wii)

    Furu Furu Park Genre: Mini-game collection Developer: Taito Publisher: Majesico Release Date: 01/17/08 Mini-game collections are the hip thing to do now, apparently; ever since Wario Ware hit the scene a few years back everyone looking to make a quick buck has made some sort of game full of mini-games. Aside from the now five…

  • Review: No More Heroes (Nintendo Wii)

    No More Heroes Genre: Action/Adventure Developer: Grasshopper Publisher: Ubisoft Release Date: 01/22/08 No More Heroes is a weird little game. That’s not really a surprise, to be fair. Grasshopper and SUDA 51 (the director of the product) are both known for their weird, quirky titles. The former has only really developed one title that could…

  • Review: Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom (XB360)

    Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom Genre: Hack and Slash/Action RPG Developer: Blue Side Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios Release Date: 01/08/2008 Quick note before we begin: Phantagram is the development house that owns the Kingdom Under Fire franchise, but according to Blue Side’s website, their team consists of all of the core developers responsible for…

  • Review: Lifesigns: Surgical Unit (Nintendo DS)

    Lifesigns: Surgical Unit Genre: Adventure/Puzzle Developer: Spike Publisher: Dreamcatcher Release Date: 11/06/07 One thing you can say about the Nintendo DS is that the adventure genre has been given a Lazarus-style style resurrection on the system, and it is (mostly) awesome. From the Ace Attorney franchise (we can’t call it “the Phoenix Wright” franchise anymore…

  • Review: Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (PS2)

    Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity Genre: Racing Developer: Sonic Team Publisher: Sega Release Date: 01/08/2008 Hey look, it’s Sonic the Hedgehog in another racing game! That’s… well, yeah. On one hand, the idea of Sonic in a racing game makes absolutely perfect sense; his entire gimmick is that he RUNS REALLY FAST, and it would stand…

  • Review: Obscure Aftermath (PS2)

    Obscure Aftermath Genre: Survival Horror Developer: Hydravision Publisher: Playlogic Release Date: 3/25/08 (estimated) The original Obscure, if you’ll excuse the tired joke, lived up to its cleverly chosen name upon US release; a budget title published by small-scale publisher Dreamcatcher and developed by virtually unknown company Hydravision, it quietly slipped out onto store shelves, attracted…

  • Review: Puzzle de Harvest Moon (Nintendo DS)

    Puzzle de Harvest Moon Genre: Puzzle Game Developer: Platinum Egg Publisher: Natsume Release Date: 11/06/07 No, I have no idea what’s up with the Spanish in the title, either. Just ignore it. Harvest Moon, Natsume’s bread and butter franchise, is one of those confounding game franchises that there is NO POSSIBLE WAY someone could have…

  • Review: Warriors of the Lost Empire (Sony PSP)

    Warriors of the Lost Empire Genre: Action RPG/ Dungeon Hack Developer: Tommo Publisher: UFO Interactive Release Date: 12/13/2007 The life of the limited release title is a sad one indeed; released to American shores in small quantities, unloved and unappreciated, at best finding a niche appeal among the hardcore audience, at worst being forgotten before…

  • Review: Unreal Tournament 3 (Sony PS3)

    Unreal Tournament 3 Genre: First-Person Shooter Developer: Epic Games Publisher: Midway Release Date: 12/11/07 Unreal Tournament 3, which is in reality the fourth Unreal Tournament game and either the seventh or eighth Unreal game in general (depending on whether you consider Unreal Championship a standalone Unreal title or a console port of Unreal Tournament 2K3)…

  • Review: Virtua Fighter 5 (XB360)

    Virtua Fighter 5 Genre: 3D Fighting Developer: AM2 Publisher: Sega Release Date: 10/30/07 It’s hard to believe it in retrospect, but Virtua Fighter, the first real 3D fighting game (beating out Tekken by about a year), has managed to stay a strong, viable franchise for parent company Sega, despite having one of the sillier game…

  • Review: BlackSite: Area 51 (Sony PS3)

    BlackSite: Area 51 Genre: First Person Shooter Developer: Midway Publisher: Midwau Release Date: 12/10/07 I’m not sure what the appeal of the Area 51 franchise is. I mean, I get the appeal of Area 51 in media on a general level, as that’s where the aliens are (supposedly) and all, don’t get me wrong. Rather,…

  • Review: Silverfall (PC)

    Sliverfall Genre: Action RPG/Dungeon Hack Developer: Monte Cristo Publisher: Atari Release Date: 3/27/07 The hack and slash. The dungeon hack. The action RPG. The “Diablo” game. The “Rogue” game. All are descriptions that are applied to the 3/4 isometric view action RPG genre, and all are wholly appropriate. Since the critical and financial success of…

  • Review: Lost Planet (XB360)

    Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Genre: Third person shooter Developer: Capcom Publisher: Capcom Release Date: 01/12/07 Capcom has been on a roll as of late, both on the 360 and in general. After the critical and financial success that was Resident Evil 4, they turned out a bang-up effort last year with some amazing games, including…

  • Review: Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops (Sony PSP)

    Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Genre: Stealth/Action Developer: Kojima Productions Publisher: Konami Release Date: 12/5/06 I’m something of an off-and-on fan of the Metal Gear Solid franchise. MGS was, to me, one of the best games released on the PS1, but MGS2 felt like less of a continuation of that, and more of a tech…